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Leading NY Jews Rethink Support for Obama

Examiner

High-visibility members of New York’s Jewish community are thinking twice about supporting President Obama’s 2012 re-election bid after he effectively called upon Israel to give Palestinians territory the Jewish state has occupied since 1967.

On Thursday Obama gave utterance to a position which has long been the American government’s unstated policy with respect to the division of lands in that troubled area of the world. Liberal commentator Jeffrey Goldberg wrote in The Atlantic:

“This has been the basic idea for at least 12 years. This is what Bill Clinton, Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat were talking about at Camp David, and later, at Taba.

This is what George W. Bush was talking about with Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert. So what’s the huge deal here?”

The huge deal, which obviously eludes Goldberg, is that these previous endorsements were handled behind closed doors, as part of the diplomatic process. In his bluntly stated support for restoring the pre-1967 borders, Obama essentially asks Israel to make all the concessions while asking nothing of the Palestinians. More importantly it fails to take into account the recent announced alignment of the anti-Israel terror group Hamas and Fatah, the two ruling arms of the Palestinian government, which gives heightened legitimacy to the former. The development at best makes the timing of the president’s call interesting.

Among local Jews who find the president’s comments troubling are former New York Mayor Ed Koch, who is quoted by Reuters as saying:

“He has in effect sought to reduce Israel’s negotiation power and I condemn him for that.

I believed that then-Senator Obama would be as good as John McCain based on his statements at the time and based on his support of Israel. It turns out I was wrong.”

Koch, who donated $2,300 to Obama’s campaign in 2008, added that he might direct his support elsewhere in the 2012 election if Republicans nominate a pro-Israel candidate who opposes the Ryan plan for entitlement reform.

Exit polls from the 2008 election reveal that 78 percent of Jewish voters chose Obama over Republican rival Senator McCain. The impact the president’s remarks are likely to have on that voting bloc has Democratic operatives scrambling to undo the damage.

That could be a tall order, according to another influential New York Jew and Obama backer in 2008, Mortimer Zuckerman. Reuters quotes the billionaire real estate developer and publisher as stating:

“I have spoken to a lot of people in the last couple of days—former supporters—who are very upset and feel alienated.

He’ll get less political support, fewer activists for his campaign, and I am sure that will extend to financial support as well.”

Obama addressed the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, on Sunday, Despite an open letter to the organization from Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, calling on it to cancel the address. The question is – has he dug himself out of the hole he created?

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11 Comments

  • CRITICAL OF NEW YORK JUDGES

    Now the truth comes out. And, Goldberg is one of those who has no clue as to what obama did. Essentially, Obama threw Israel uner the bus in anticipation of massive funding for his campaign from the Muslem communities and said to hell with the Jews of America. He gave the jews the shaft just like FDR when FDR could have helped the refugees from Nazi Germany

  • Leah

    Someone wrote before and I want to reiterate that any Yid that votes for Pharoah Obama should be held in cherem, he has it in his muslim genes to destroying us…

  • duh

    no yidden i know voted obama last election why would we change out vote now?

  • meir

    if they voted 4 him or plan too with what or whos brain are they using to rethink with ?

  • SL

    you use the word effectively?
    Throwing Israel “under the bus”is about the only thing he HAS done effectively. Anyone who has a strong Jewish identity and knows Jewish history and Torah is not going to want him generally

  • sheichen hashchunah

    Does anyone believe that Obama’s decision to “come out of the closet” regarding Israel was made without considering the negative impact it would have on his 2012 campaign. Not to worry. Time heals all wounded fools and those who can’t or won’t be healed Daddy George will make it all better.

  • some education and a little background .

    republicans love to make it seem like Obama is the bad one. You people are ignorant, have no idea what the whole story is- I guarantee you all have not done any research as to what is the truth behind these twisted lies. You sound pretty ignorant and you should research to find out the truth before making blanket statements.

    What he said does not substantively change U.S. policy. Bush said borders should be along the 1949 (!) armistice lines. Obama said that as long as Hamas is involved, an agreement is probably not possible. Obama also said the borders should be “based on” – key fudge words – the 67 borders, with appropriate land swaps – read carefully, he’s not saying those must or should be the borders, but that that’s where you start from. Unfortunately, this is the horrible Land for Peace idea that ISRAEL itself proposed after the 6 Day War – and an idea that was made Israeli policy by two Israeli governments. Also, the Arabs/Palestinians have been pushing for a U.N. vote for unilateral statehood in Sept. If that came up it would surely pass the General Assembly, embarrassing the U.S. and Israel. So there are pre-emptive moves here. And who knows what goes on behind closed doors? By appearing to be more neutral (or 55% Arab), Obama gives Israel cover, delays things, etc. literally, Israel is its own worst enemy.

  • CHT

    The worst thing is – there is absolutely no good candidate and his second term is nearly unavoidable.